PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩300 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close
Daesang Holdings has seen steady growth in its Chungjungone/Jongga-centered food business, but weakness in the starch-sugar and lysine materials business combined with an antitrust fine burden drove a large net loss in 2025, with earnings recovering in the first half of 2026.
Consolidated 2025 operating profit improved year over year to KRW 199.8 billion, but net income attributable to owners swung to a large loss.
Operating profit surged to KRW 78.1 billion in Q1 2026 and the profitable trend continued into Q2, signaling an earnings recovery.
In July 2026 the Korea Fair Trade Commission imposed a fine of about KRW 234.1 billion on Daesang over starch and starch-sugar price fixing.
The bio-materials business including lysine continues to face weak conditions due to oversupply originating from China.
The food business continues overseas expansion through the Lucky Foods acquisition in the United States and the new allulose (Sweevero) business.
Daesang Holdings is a holding company with Daesang Corporation as its core subsidiary, organized around two business pillars: food and materials.
The food business produces and sells traditional fermented sauces such as Sunchang Gochujang under the comprehensive food brand Chungjungone, seasonings such as Miwon, Western-style foods, convenience foods and fresh foods, and also includes kimchi, side dishes and tofu products centered on the Jongga kimchi brand.
The materials business consists of the starch-sugar segment, which has the largest domestic starch and starch-sugar production capacity, and the bio segment producing MSG, nucleic acids, aspartame, lysine, arginine and tryptophan.
In the first quarter of 2026, consolidated revenue was about KRW 1.1099 trillion, with the food segment accounting for KRW 965.1 billion (87.0%), the materials segment KRW 379.6 billion (34.2%), and consolidation adjustments of negative KRW 234.8 billion (-21.2%), with sales split 22.5% exports and 77.5% domestic.
Overseas operations are conducted through numerous local entities including PT Daesang Ingredients Indonesia (starch-sugar and seasonings), Daesang Vietnam (starch-sugar), Daesang Europe B.V. (European sales), Daesang America, and Germany-based Amino GmbH.
In the domestic B2B market, these four companies hold market shares of 95.7% in starch and 86.4% in starch-sugar. The domestic starch-sugar market is an oligopoly dominated by Daesang, Samyang, Sajo CPK and CJ CheilJedang.
More recently, the company has been building up allulose, a low-calorie sweetener, under the Sweevero brand in response to low-sugar and healthy-pleasure trends, and Samyang and Daesang grew the market and the two companies now split the domestic allulose market between them.
The livestock distribution subsidiary Hyesung Provision handles the import, processing and sale of chilled and frozen meat.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩1.4T | ₩49.9B | 3.6% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩1.5T | ₩69.3B | 4.7% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩1.4T | ₩28B | 2.1% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩1.4T | ₩78.1B | 5.5% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩1.5T | ₩59.4B | 4.0% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩5.2T | ₩143.8B | ₩32.2B | 2.8% | 4.4% | 158.2% |
| 2023 | ₩5.3T | ₩114.6B | ₩21.1B | 2.2% | 2.8% | 162.7% |
| 2024 | ₩5.4T | ₩184B | ₩20.4B | 3.4% | 2.7% | 164.4% |
| 2025 | ₩5.6T | ₩199.8B | -₩106.9B | 3.6% | −17.3% | 236.3% |
Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-08-21
Daesang Holdings' consolidated revenue rose for four consecutive years, from KRW 5.2267 trillion in 2022 to KRW 5.2594 trillion in 2023, KRW 5.3579 trillion in 2024, and KRW 5.6288 trillion in 2025.
Operating profit dipped from KRW 143.8 billion in 2022 to KRW 114.6 billion in 2023 before recovering to KRW 184.0 billion in 2024 and KRW 199.8 billion in 2025, with the operating margin improving from 2.2% in 2023 to 3.6% in 2025.
Net income attributable to owners, however, stayed positive at KRW 32.2 billion, KRW 21.1 billion and KRW 20.4 billion in 2022-2024 before swinging to a large loss of KRW 106.9 billion in 2025.
On a quarterly basis, operating profit improved to KRW 69.3 billion with owners' net income of KRW 20.7 billion in Q3 2025, but operating profit fell to KRW 28.0 billion in Q4 2025 and owners' net income posted a large loss of KRW 138.7 billion.
This timing coincides with the starch and starch-sugar price-fixing case; reports noted that the four companies booked the fines as provisions, turning last year's results into losses across the board, with Daesang recording a net loss of about KRW 285.5 billion, suggesting the widened Q4 loss is closely tied to this provisioning.
Operating cash flow, however, actually rose to KRW 242.9 billion in 2025 from KRW 178.3 billion in 2024, indicating that much of the net loss stemmed from non-cash factors.
Entering 2026, the company posted two consecutive profitable quarters, with operating profit of KRW 78.1 billion (owners' net income KRW 24.5 billion) in Q1 and KRW 59.4 billion (owners' net income KRW 14.0 billion) in Q2.
Total equity attributable to owners fell from KRW 767.6 billion in 2024 to KRW 618.3 billion in 2025, while the debt ratio jumped from 164.4% to 236.3% over the same period.
Korea's starch and starch-sugar market has maintained an entrenched oligopoly for about two decades, with Daesang, Sajo CPK, Samyang, and CJ CheilJedang together holding 95.7% of the starch market and 86.4% of the starch-sugar market.
However, in July 2026 the Korea Fair Trade Commission issued corrective orders and imposed a combined fine of about KRW 747.58 billion on the four starch and starch-sugar makers for price fixing, with individual fines of KRW 234.14 billion for Daesang, KRW 210.34 billion for Samyang, KRW 200.13 billion for Sajo CPK, and KRW 102.97 billion for CJ CheilJedang.
Separately, the commission began deliberation procedures on suspected bid-rigging and byproduct price-fixing in the starch-sugar sector, leaving room for further sanctions.
Prosecutors have also launched an investigation into the starch and starch-sugar makers, indicting a total of 25 people including corporate entities and CEOs at Daesang, Sajo CPK and CJ CheilJedang.
In the feed-grade amino acid market including lysine, continued low-price supply from Chinese producers has kept global selling prices weak, and even though the EU imposed anti-dumping tariffs of up to 58.2% on Chinese lysine, the oversupply structure has not resolved, limiting price recovery.
In contrast, the alternative sweetener market is growing quickly on low-sugar and healthy-pleasure trends, with Samyang and Daesang splitting the market while CJ CheilJedang has signaled a renewed push by designating allulose a core material.
In the food segment, growing global interest in K-Food and expanded overseas manufacturing bases are driving revenue growth, with the Americas, Europe and Southeast Asia emerging as growth axes.
The company stated that in the second half it plans to expand its global food business based on the popularity of K-Food and focus on strengthening competitiveness in high-value businesses such as bio-materials.
According to financial information provider FnGuide and credit rating industry estimates, Daesang's consolidated Q2 2026 revenue was estimated at KRW 1.07-1.11 trillion and operating profit at KRW 37.0-41.0 billion, with the assessment that whether lysine market conditions recover in the second half has emerged as the biggest variable for this year's earnings improvement.
In the food segment, Jongga and Chungjungone sales are expanding in the US and Southeast Asian markets, the effect of the Lucky Foods acquisition in the US is gradually appearing, and the German materials company Amino GmbH is cited as a base for expanding high-value materials business.
In the alternative sweetener business, overseas export revenue increased more than 300% year over year, and the company continues to expand its lineup, having launched three additional B2C allulose products carrying Chungjungone's own LOWTAG emblem.
On the regulatory front, the four companies must re-determine domestic starch-sugar product prices back to pre-collusion levels and report changes semi-annually for the next three years, while confirmation of the outcome of the bid-rigging and byproduct price-fixing case deliberations remains an outstanding item.
As a holding company, Daesang Holdings typically shows the valuation pattern common to holding companies, trading at a discount to the net asset value of its subsidiaries.
With owners' equity shrinking due to the large 2025 net loss, the metric measuring share price relative to net assets has been moving in a lower range than in the past.
Looking at recent years, the operating margin has shown a gradual improving trend, while net income has been volatile, swinging from profit to a large loss and then back to profit in the first half of 2026.
This net income volatility can distort the interpretation of earnings-based price multiples, so it is worth examining the underlying operating earnings trend excluding antitrust-related contingent liabilities or one-off factors.
On dividends, a consistent per-share payout pattern appears to have been maintained despite sharp swings in net income.
PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are all calculated in-house (the same method as Naver and Toss) · Dividend yield = cash dividend per share from DART filings (supplemented by KRX) ÷ current price · As of 2026-08-21
Chungjungone and Jongga are broadening their overseas revenue base through the Lucky Foods acquisition in the US and localization in Southeast Asia. Amid growing global interest in K-Food, overseas manufacturing bases are expanding. This is contributing to relatively stable revenue growth in the food segment.
Operating profit rose sharply for two consecutive quarters in Q1 and Q2 2026, making the earnings recovery trend more evident. It is also notable that the driver of the large 2025 net loss was a non-recurring antitrust fine provision. Operating cash flow has also remained solid regardless of the net income weakness.
The allulose (Sweevero) business, developed in response to low-sugar and healthy-pleasure trends, is establishing itself domestically as it splits the market with Samyang. Overseas export revenue is also growing quickly and the B2C lineup continues to expand. The business is seen as having entry barriers by leveraging existing starch-sugar facilities and technology.
Feed-grade amino acids including lysine continue to see weak global selling prices due to low-price supply from China. Even with the EU's anti-dumping tariffs, the oversupply structure has not resolved, limiting price recovery. Starch-sugar is also under pressure from weak demand and price adjustments.
The large 2025 net loss reduced owners' equity and sharply raised the debt ratio. Contingent liability burdens could increase further depending on additional antitrust fines and deliberation outcomes. This could weigh on financial stability metrics.
The KFTC increased the fine after considering Daesang's history of repeated legal violations. Deliberation of bid-rigging and byproduct price-fixing cases involving the four starch-sugar makers is ongoing, leaving room for additional sanctions. Criminal prosecution is also proceeding in parallel, continuing legal uncertainty.
The fine for starch and starch-sugar price fixing has been finalized, and deliberation of the bid-rigging and byproduct price-fixing cases is ongoing. Prosecutors have indicted 25 people including executives at three related companies. Additional financial burdens could arise depending on future deliberation outcomes.
The starch-sugar and bio businesses are exposed to fluctuations in international grain prices such as corn and molasses. Despite government tariff-rate quota benefits, cost pressure can rise sharply if global grain prices spike. Given the high share of overseas revenue, foreign exchange fluctuations also affect earnings.
High volatility in the materials segment can shake consolidated results as a whole. When one-off factors are reflected, as in Q4 2025, quarterly earnings swings can be significant. It is necessary to continually check whether the stable growth of the food segment continues to offset this.
Daesang Holdings' Q3 2026 earnings release should be checked to see whether the lysine and starch-sugar materials segment is recovering and whether the earnings improvement is sustained.
If the KFTC issues its deliberation outcome on the starch-sugar bid-rigging and byproduct price-fixing cases, the size of any additional fine should be confirmed.
The progress of the criminal trial against the four starch-sugar companies and their compliance with the independent price re-determination order should be monitored.
Tracking international lysine prices and supply-demand changes following the EU anti-dumping tariff can provide signals on profitability recovery in the materials segment.
Daesang Holdings is a holding company where stable growth in the Chungjungone/Jongga-centered food business coexists with earnings volatility in the starch-sugar and lysine-centered materials business.
In 2025, despite improved operating profit, the company recorded a large net loss due to provisioning related to the starch-sugar price-fixing fine, but it returned to profit for two consecutive quarters in the first half of 2026, showing a recovery trend.
The materials segment remains weak amid Chinese-driven lysine oversupply and softening starch-sugar demand, while the food segment continues to expand its growth base through overseas expansion in the US and Southeast Asia and the new alternative sweetener business.
Regulatory uncertainty from the KFTC's bid-rigging and byproduct price-fixing deliberations and the ongoing criminal trial has not yet been resolved. Financially, the debt ratio has risen and owners' equity has declined, but operating cash flow has remained solid.
Overall, the company's future performance will depend on how much the stable growth of the food segment can offset the pace of recovery in the materials segment and the resolution of regulatory risks.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
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